We live in most dangerous time since Cuban missile crisis
¹The Rt Hon Al Carns, Former Minister for the Armed Forces, spoke to Chatham House’s London Conference on 9 July 2026 about ‘how close we are to the risk of a significant escalation’ from Russia facing a war in Ukraine that is ‘becoming unwinnable’.
He said this was what underpinned NATO unity at the recent summit in Ankara.
Carns, a Labour MP, was speaking at a panel event titled ‘Total defence: Building Europe’s resilience against permanent threat’, alongside Mikhail Kasyanov, former prime minister of the Russian Federation; Samantha de Bendern, an associate fellow in Chatham House’s Russia and Eurasia Programme and Olivia O’Sullivan, director of the UK in the World Programme at Chatham House.
Here’s more from the London Conference, where leading voices from policymaking, business and academia gathered to discuss the theme of ‘a route to order in an evolving world’ –
Chatham House is a London-based international affairs think-tank.
Its mission is to address geopolitical challenges and international problems, aiming to help governments and societies build a secure, sustainable, prosperous and just world.
https://youtube.com/shorts/GXSSez0iNSM?is=fLhgxm-7L1GZxF-M
